Jesse Kielman: In redistricting, Kansas legislators shouldn’t use prison populations as bargaining chips (Column)

“Despite denying enslaved people civil rights, slave states demanded that these men, women and children be included in population counts because it increased their political power. … This exploitation has resurfaced in recent redistricting efforts,” Jesse Kielman writes in this column for Kansas Reflector.

Clay Wirestone: Progressives beware: Don’t let values become casualties of the pandemic (Column)

“I sympathize with the anger. But during this virus-riddled time, we can’t allow the pandemic to melt our minds. We should not want people who disagree with us — even if that disagreement takes the form of refusing a vaccine or mask — to forgo health insurance or medical care,” Clay Wirestone writes in this column.